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Race Central Stories

  • Preece cashes in at Thunder Valley

    Preece cashes in at Thunder Valley

    *THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE NASCAR’S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT DANIEL HEMRIC’S POST-RACE INSPECTION FAILURE WON’T RESULT IN A PENALTY.

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — The first thing Ryan Preece did after he climbed out of his car in victory lane was grab the oversized novelty check he received for winning the first race of this year’s XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash, which he promptly tossed to his crew standing behind his car.

    “First off, this Rheem Toyota TRD Camry JGR car was awesome,” Preece said. “These guys right here, they work hard and they don’t get on TV and I want you all to focus in on them and this guy (Eric Phillips, crew chief) – I have to thank everybody last year for helping me make this all possible. Without last year, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now, I wouldn’t be sitting here in Bristol victory lane in an Xfinity Series car with Joe Gibbs Racing. To win here, it’s unreal. I guess I didn’t make Joey Logano look like a fool today.

    “Words can’t even describe. My mom’s super happy, my dad’s super happy – I’m 27 years old and I’m not getting any younger. I’m looking for opportunities. We did it last year at Iowa and now we did it here at Bristol. I hope I don’t get labeled as a short track racer, I want to win on mile-and-a-halves soon. Nothing beats winning. That’s what I told somebody earlier today. They asked me what was the most exciting thing and I said winning – I hate losing more than winning. Today we did it.”

    Preece made the winning move driving underneath Brandon Jones going into Turn 1 to take the lead with 12 laps to go, and set sail to his second career victory in 43-career XFINITY Grand National Series starts.

    Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, Elliott Sadler and Spencer Gallagher rounded out the Top-five.

    Jones, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Ross Chastain and Ryan Truex rounded out the Top-10.

    “That caution on right there on that long run just killed me and I just put my head down when I saw it ‘cause I knew we were so much better than the 18 (Ryan Preece) up off the corner, but all in all such a phenomenal day for Toyota, for Menards and for everybody at (Joe Gibbs Racing) JGR right now. Also, Turtle Wax is on board with us this weekend as well. Can’t say enough about the guys that support us the most and we are just so close right now. It breaks my heart just to see that, but we had a gamble right there at the end,” Jones said of the final caution. “We had to take the two tires to try to see what we could do. Just too much wheel-spinning on the restart to make anything of it.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    Custer led the field to the green flag at 1:15 p.m. Exiting Turn 2, however, Allgaier powered by him with ease to lead the first lap. Coming to the line to start the fifth lap, Christopher Bell shot up the track, a result of a right-front tire failure, and slammed the outside wall. As the field slowed to avoid hitting him, cars slammed into the back of others and the resulting accordion effect swallowed up nine cars.

    Back to green on Lap 18, the field settled into a conveyor-belt run to the competition caution at Lap 45. Hemric exited the pits as the race leader, while Justin Allgaier exited third.

    A lap after the restart on Lap 55, Bell powered by Hemric on the outside heading into Turn 1 to take the lead and drove on to win the first stage.

    Preece exited the pits first and led the field back to green on Lap 99, as well as after he restart on Lap 109 (for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch). On the latter restart, however, Hemric shot past him on the bottom to retake the lead. Preece worked to the inside of Hemric on Lap 163, however, and won the second stage.

    Chase Briscoe took the lead after he elected not to pit, along with Jones and Reddick, but had the lead usurped by Jones, who fended off challenges from Preece as the laps clicked away, with less than 60 to go. It was rendered a moot point by Shane Lee, who brought out the caution with 27 to go and set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    There were four multi-car incidents. The first on Lap 4 (nine cars), Lap 58 (four cars), Lap 100 (seven cars) and Lap 140 (three cars), also brought out red flag for seven minutes and one second.

    Four cautions flew for single or two-car incidents.

    Three flew for scheduled reasons (competition/stage conclusion).

    OTHER NEWS ITEMS

    Hemric’s car failed post-race inspection, because one side of the rear wheel-toe alignment was off. However, the failure didn’t rise to the level of a penalty, because both sides of the rear wheel-toe must be off in the XFINITY Grand National Series. So not only won’t he be penalized, but he’ll be eligible for the Dash 4 Cash at Richmond Raceway.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 21 minutes and 57 seconds, at an average speed of 67.857 mph. There were 13 lead changes among eight different drivers, and 12 cautions for 93 laps.

    Sadler leaves with a six-point lead over Hemric.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/N1807_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Start Tme for Sunday’s Monster Energy Series Race Moved Up at Bristol  

    Start Tme for Sunday’s Monster Energy Series Race Moved Up at Bristol  

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    NASCAR and track officials have moved up the start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway to 1 p.m. ET (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) because of the threat of inclement weather.

    RELATED: Full weekend schedule 

    The Food City 500 was originally set for a green flag at 2:13 p.m. ET. That start time — and all pre-race ceremonies — have been moved up to one hour earlier.

    Officials reached that decision Saturday morning, faced with a 90 percent chance of precipitation in the race-day forecast at the half-mile Tennessee track, according to the National Weather Service.

    Kyle Busch will start on the pole for the race while brother Kurt will start next to him on the front row.

  • Ragan Fastest at Bristol in Final Cup Series Practice

    Ragan Fastest at Bristol in Final Cup Series Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — David Ragan topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford clocked in at a time of 15.051 and a speed of 127.487 mph.

    He held the top spot for virtually the entire 50-minute session.

    Occupying spots 2-5 were Chase Elliott, who timed in at 15.100 and 127.073 mph, Denny Hamlin, who timed in at 15.109 and 126.997 mph, Kurt Busch, who timed in at 15.164 and 126.537 mph and Michael McDowell, who timed in at 15.193 and 126.295 mph.

    AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, Kasey Sahne and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the Top-10.

    Kurt Busch comes to a stop on the apron, after his car hit the inside wall on the backstretch in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    In the closing minutes of the session, Kurt Busch broke loose exiting Turn 2, spun down the backstretch and hit the inside wall. His team rolled out the backup car, so he’ll start from the rear of the field tomorrow afternoon.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1808_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Larson Fastest in Second Cup Series Practice at Bristol

    Larson Fastest in Second Cup Series Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet clocked in at a time of 14.874 and a speed of 129.004 mph.

    He was followed by Martin Truex Jr., who timed in at 14.880 and a speed of 128.952 mph, Aric Almirola at 14.881 and 128.943 mph, Kyle Busch at 14.882 and 128.934 mph and Kasey Kahne at 14.894 and 128.830 mph.

    David Ragan, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott rounded out the Top-10.

    Erik Jones, who posted the 11th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 127.292 mph.

    The session proceeded without incident.

    First practice results

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1808_PRAC2.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch knows there’s no better place to start at Bristol Motor Speedway than up front, and the smile on his face after winning the pole for the Food City 500 is all the evidence you need.

    “Adam Steven and my guys, they do an awesome job, and the preparation and everything that we got going on right now has been really good for our Skittles Camry. Can’t say enough about JGR and TRD, Costa Mesa, all those guys with the motors and stuff too. It’s nice to come out here and grab a front row starting spot, but I got to be careful and mindful. I got to make sure that I have a good race car, because anytime I’ve ever started up front, I have not finished up front. And anytime I’ve ever started in the back, I’ve finished up front. We’re trying to change things here this time around this weekend. Thankfully, we’ve got a fast race car to do that with. We’ll just keep working at it, and find some more things tomorrow that’ll help us for Sunday.”

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took pole position with a final round time of 14.895 and a speed of 128.822 mph.

    Following him are brother Kurt, with a time of 14.897 and a speed of 128.804 mph, Brad Keselowski with a time of 14.960 and a speed of 128.262 mph, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a time of 14.961 and a speed of 128.253 mph and Ryan Blaney with a time of 14.969 128.185 mph.

    Most of the cars didn’t hit the track in mass in the first round until the final four minutes and 20 seconds. Kyle Busch topped the chart with ease, followed by brother Kurt, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney.

    It was the same in the second round, only most of the field waited even later in the round (less than two minutes remaining) before departing pit road. The Busch brothers swapped positions in the running order for the second round, with Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson rounding out the Top-five.

    Kevin Harvick, who wrecked his primary car in the closing minutes practice earlier today, didn’t turn a lap in qualifying and will start last. Jimmie Johnson will join him in the back, after his team changed a cut left-front tire (you’re required to start on the tires on which you qualified).

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1808_STARTROW.pdf”]

  • Blaney & Jones fastest in first practice

    Blaney & Jones fastest in first practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. Both drivers posted a time of 14.774 and a speed of 129.877 mph.

    Blaney clocked in his fastest lap early on in the session, riding the VHT track bite along the bottom four feet of the racing groove, while Jones set it in the closing minutes. Although drivers tend to ride a tire-width above the bottom or with right side on the gray of the concrete.

    Kurt Busch timed in at third, with a time of 14.799 and a speed of 129.657 mph. Kyle Busch timed in at fourth, with a time of 14.822 and a speed of 129.456 mph. Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-five, with a time of 14.840 and a speed of 129.299 mph.

    Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, David Ragan and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the Top-10.

    Jones posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average, at a speed of 124.148 mph.

    Kevin Harvick gets directed to hop inside the awaiting ambulance to make the short trip to the infield care center, after his car slammed the outside wall in Turn 3 in the closing minutes of the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: David Yeazell/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Kevin Harvick suffered a left-front part failure going into Turn 3 and slammed the outside wall in the closing minutes of the session. His team rolled out the backup car and he’ll start from the tail-end of the field on Sunday.

    Second practice results

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1808_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • Full Weekend Schedule for Bristol Motor Speedway

    Full Weekend Schedule for Bristol Motor Speedway

  • Faulty air gun leads to ‘elevator day’ for Harvick

    Faulty air gun leads to ‘elevator day’ for Harvick

    Most drivers who have an “elevator ride” day up and down the running order and still finish runner-up would leave it at that. When Kevin Harvick spoke in the deadline room at Texas Motor Speedway after the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, however, he was anything but content. The source of his frustration was the continuously malfunctioning, NASCAR-issued air guns.

    “Yeah, it’s just been a frustrating two days,” he said, also referencing issues he suffered in the previous day’s XFINITY Series race. “We had a pathetic day two days on pit road because we can’t get pit guns that work in our pit stalls. Today we had to pit under green‑‑ got ourselves a lap down because the pit guns work half the time, they don’t work half the time. Yesterday we had four loose wheels because the pit guns can’t get the tires tight.

    “Our guys did a great job with a really fast racecar. I feel bad for the guys on pit road because they get handed just absolutely inconsistent pieces of equipment. Today it wound up costing us a race.”

    Under the third caution of the day, for Kyle Larson suffering a right-front tire blowout and slamming the wall in Turn 1, a lug nut got caught in the jack, impeded the pit stop for a few seconds and cost Harvick the lead. A few laps after the ensuing restart on Lap 135, he came back down pit road because of a loose wheel.

    He rejoined the race 22nd one lap down.

    “We had four or five issues with the pit gun this year as we’ve gone through the year,” he added. “We wound up winning the race. It’s unfortunate that we have to use a piece of equipment that is handed to us, and that dictates your day.”

    Harvick got back on the lead lap when the caution flew with 99 laps to go, during the middle of a green flag pit cycle. He restarted at the tail-end, however, when a crew member fell over the wall to catch a rolling tire (thus a “Too many men over the wall” penalty).

    He worked his way up to second, overtaking McMurray for the spot with 56 to go.

    FORT WORTH, Texas – APRIL 08: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, leads Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Light Ford, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo: Robert Laberge/Getty Images

    On the final restart with 23 to go, Harvick and Kyle Busch broke away from the field to settle the victory for themselves. Harvick couldn’t get close enough to Busch, got as close as three-tenths of a second, and finished second to the No. 18 Toyota Camry.

    “I mean, Kyle had a decent car,” Harvick said. “It’s just in traffic, our car wasn’t as good as it was obviously in clean air. He did a good job of not making any mistakes there at the end and kept his car on the bottom, never gave us an opening to really drive in there and be able to, you know, capitalize on a mistake.

    “He kept his car right on line and did exactly what he needed to do. It was fast enough to be able to keep us back there. My car would slide the front tires. We had some trouble keeping the car on the bottom once I would get close to him.

    “I needed the whole run to capitalize on the full strength of our car, with his car. I felt like him and the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) probably had the best two cars, aside from ours, on the racetrack. It just took a long time to get to the point of being able to pass him.”

    All in all, it was a solid afternoon for Harvick. He led 87 of 334 laps, won the first stage and jumped up to fourth in points.

    “So, you know, you can overcome a lot of things,” Harvick said. “We had a super fast car today, but in the end pitting under green for the wheel was what put the dagger in it. We just didn’t make it all the way.”

  • ‘Rowdy’ breaks through to victory in Texas

    ‘Rowdy’ breaks through to victory in Texas

    Out of his car and flag in hand, Kyle Busch performed his trademark bow to a mixed reaction of cheers and jeers from the fans in attendance at Texas Motor Speedway. After weeks of coming up short, despite dominant performance after dominant performance and weeks of frustration mounting, he was back in victory lane.

    “We were probably just a tick faster, overall, but I just to make sure to do everything I could to hit all my marks and everything,” Busch said. “To focus on making sure that I did the right things to block his air a little bit.

    “This has been a trying couple of months, I guess. After Daytona, we’ve just been on a roll of finishing really good. Been really pumped and excited about that, and the momentum we were able to carry, but frustrated at the same time trying to get to victory lane.”

    Busch led the field back to green for the final time with 23 laps to go. After Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bogged down the field on the restart, he and Kevin Harvick pulled away from the field to settle the race between themselves. The closest Harvick could get, however, was within three-tenths of a second.

    “We did overcome a lot. That was unfortunate,” Harvick said after finishing runner-up. “We had a pathetic day on pit road, two days on pit road because of pit guns. When you have a pit gun problem like we have multiple times and been able to overcome it and then today we couldn’t overcome it. Time after time you can’t get the lug nuts tight because the pit guns don’t work.

    “Kyle’s car was good enough to where he could get out there and run pretty good in clean air. It took us the whole run to be able to get everything back together and do everything we needed to do to make up a position. We weren’t as good behind him as we were in front of him. His car would run fast enough. There is only so much you can make up.”

    Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney rounded out the Top-five.

    Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Darrell Wallace Jr., Clint Bowyer and William Byron rounded out the Top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag at 2:13 p.m. Kevin Harvick powered ahead through Turn 2 to take the top spot and led the first lap. Busch, meanwhile, got loose in Turn 3 and fell back to seventh. Martin Truex Jr. pitted a bit shy of the end of the estimated fuel window on Lap 41. This forced the rest of the leaders to pit as well. Harvick pitted from the lead on Lap 44, handing it to Denny Hamlin. Hoping to catch a caution, he finally pitted on Lap 56 and the lead cycled back to Harvick.

    Hamlin was hit with a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit entry.

    The first stage ended with a caution five laps shy of the conclusion when second-place Martin Truex Jr. suffered a right-front tire blowout and veered up into the Turn 4 wall. As a result, Harvick won the first stage.

    Kyle Busch beat Harvick off pit road and led the field back to green on Lap 91. Harvick took advantage of Busch getting loose in Turn 1 to get to his inside and retake the lead on Lap 116.

    Kyle Larson, who worked his way back into the Top-10 after starting the day from the tail-end of the field for failing pre-race inspection too many times, suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 126.

    A lug nut got caught in Harvick’s jack, costing him the lead. Kurt Busch exited first and led the field back to green on Lap 135. Adding insult to injury for Harvick, he made an unscheduled not long after the restart for a loose wheel, as did Ryan Blaney. With four laps remaining in the second stage, the Kyle swapped the top spot with his brother exiting Turn 2 and won the stage.

    Erik Jones exited pit road first and led the field to green on Lap 178. Busch got loose going into Turn 1. Heading down the backstretch, he backed up into the path of Aric Almirola, who checked up and got Hamlin loose, triggering a multi-car wreck. Cleanup required 11 minutes under red flag.

    The race restarted on Lap 184. A round of green flag stops commenced with 103 laps to go. Jones pitted the following lap, Busch pitted with 101 to go and the lead went to William Byron.

    Following a caution for Paul Menard hitting the wall in Turn 1, Kyle Busch beat Jones entering Turn 1 and retook the lead with 94 to go.

    Everyone hit pit road for their final round of pit stops with 45 to go. Race leader Kyle Busch did so with 44 to go. Ryan Newman blew a right-front tire and slammed the outside wall on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution with 30 to go. Chase Elliott pitted from the lead and it cycled back to Kyle Busch.

    He led the field back to green with 23 to go. After Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bogged down the field on the restart, Busch and Harvick pulled away from the field to settle the race between themselves.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 32 minutes and seven seconds, at an average speed of 141.714 mph. There were 16 lead changes among eight different drivers and eight cautions for 48 laps.

    Kyle Busch leaves with a 38-point lead over Joey Logano.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1807_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Ryan Blaney Ropes Xfinity Series Win at Texas

    Ryan Blaney Ropes Xfinity Series Win at Texas

    It was an unusually cold day at Texas Motor Speedway for the My Bariatric Solutions 300, but that didn’t stop Ryan Blaney from taking the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford into Victory Lane.

    He dominated the race by leading 132 of 200 laps. Once he took the lead with 47 laps left to go in the race, he was untouchable. This is Blaney’s seventh career Xfinity Series win and his first at Texas.

    “The car was great, pit stops were great all day,” Blaney commented. “I couldn’t ask more of this team.” He added, “It’s finally nice to win one here at Texas.”

    Stage 1 would get off to a rather rough start seeing three cautions within the first 16 laps for single car incidents. The race would settle down for the remainder of the stage with Blaney having led every lap and winning the stage.

    Stage 2 would once again see Blaney up front at the beginning but he would fall back mid-stage and ChristopherBell would take over as the leader. Only two cautions were thrown, the second would see a last-lap shootout to end the stage as Brandon Jones would take the lead and the stage win.

    The final stage of the race would only have one caution for Stage 2 winner Jones, who would see the wall after getting loose. Blaney would once again find himself up front with second place Christopher Bell trying hard to catch up to him but unable to close the gap.

    Bell stated, “We were able to get to the front, but not quite enough to get a run at the 22 yet.” He added, “I felt like we were pretty equal at times, but overall he was just a little bit better than us.”

    Daniel Hemric brought his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet home in third place today. Cole Custer and Ryan Preece would round out the top five. Matt Tifft, Jamie McMurray, Elliott Sadler, Austin Cindric, and Spencer Gallagher finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Sadler leads the Xfinity Series point standings with 228 points, Reddick is in second with 217 points followed by Bell in third with 208 points. Hemric is in fourth with 203 and Allgaier rounds out the top five with 196 points.

    Today’s race was the first Dash 4 Cash race and the top four drivers who are eligible for the $100,000 prize at Bristol Motor Speedway are Christopher Bell, Daniel Hemric, Cole Custer, and Ryan Preece.

    The Xfinity Series will head next to Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Texas-NXS-Unofficial-Results-4-7-18.pdf” title=”Texas NXS Unofficial Results 4-7-18″]